I feel your pain. At Thanksgiving there was the usual mini-battle at the table to get my step-niece to eat something other than a roll and bread stuffing. I saw mini-fight but honestly the parents just said "you need to eat something else" and that was it. I thought it was only for the holiday (you know, not pushing anything so there isn't a screaming fit at the table). Over the weekend Grandma babysat my Munchkin and when we picked her up she just raved about how well she ate. I told her it was because we'd always been low-carb with her diet and she was never allowed to eat crud, even during the times we've fallen off the wagon.

This led to a discussion on step-niece and her parents (dad just lost almost 100 pounds going primal, mom still isn't on the wagon) and how Grandma is worried. Right now step-niece is thin and in "good health" but she has extreme mood swings, very poor sleeping habits, potty-training issues (she's 6), and will have a complete and utter meltdown if she doesn't get the heavy carbs foods she wants. Seems to me the kid has the parents trained. Grandma asked my advice which was to cut out all sugar and processed carbs, and get ready for a week of hell.

Its just sad. Hopefully since the dad has already gone primal it will (eventually) filter to mom and kiddo. *fingers crossed*

My mother and I had traveled to her sister's (my aunt's) house. They lived half-way across the country from us so this wasn't an every day thing. Aunt had two kids and some sort of family reunion type day planned. She had gone out and done "special shopping" so there would be food for everyone.

I took a look at what was on the table... There were plates of cut vegetables, ham/roast beef and cheese sandwiches, fruit, hot dogs with ketchup, grocery store fried chicken drumsticks, twinkies, etc.... I started in on the cut vegetables and roast beef. I had some strawberries. I ate more vegetables. I went back for thirds on the vegetables. My aunt watched, aghast, as I ate. Finally she couldn't take it any more and told me that I shouldn't be eating that food. I can't remember exactly what I said in reply but she was more than a bit shocked and lit into my mother to control her son, force me to eat the age appropriate food (to her that was obviously the hotdogs and twinkies as far as I could understand).

My mother replied with something along the lines of, "I believe in letting kids eat what they want to eat."

It went down-hill from there. I remember this part, though, almost 30 years later: Aunt to my mother, sounding indignant, "I don't know what it's like in California, but here in Wisconsin vegetables are expensive!"

In hindsight I suspect the encounter wasn't helped by the fact that when Aunt asked me (before going shopping, I think) what my favorite food was, I had replied, "lobster." Hey, she asked what I liked, not what I had tasted more than once in my life.

The funny part was that I wasn't a skinny kid. My older brother (who didn't like vegetables nearly as much as I did) was a rail, but I was always on the upper end of the weight range. Not fat per se, but not light. In hindsight, I attribute most of my bad eating habbits to one aspect of my upbringing: We lived on a single income in Southern California (where the cost of living was and is high) and my mother had serious health issues of the "multiple surgeries, radiation therapy, etc, starting when I was 5" variety. In other words, we were broke most of the time and didn't have a huge amount of money to spend on food. My mother tried to deal with this by cooking exactly the right amount of food...but if she undershot (and that happened often) were like young birds in a nest at feeding time...the most agressive eats, the others starve. My brother was older by 5 or so years, a natural advantage in those circumstances. I learned that if I took a small serving and wanted more...well, chances are by that time the food would be gone. I learned to eat almost anything that was served and not to be picky. I learned to grab as much food as I could, when I could. Probably great lessons for Grok or whatever, but bad lessons for a kid in our decadent food-rich society.

were like young birds in a nest at feeding time...the most agressive eats, the others starve.

It was like that at my partner's house growing up. There were 6 kids. If you didn't eat as much as you could you might miss out and the other kids would eat your share. Even then, everyone in their house was so thin the neighbors gossiped about it.

I think if my brother and I were more alike in age and temperment we might have caused similar gossip. I know if we'd had another mouth to feed (not to mention six!) it would've made things harder.

My brother was significantly older (5 is a lot of years at that point in life) and I was a LOT more aggressive/competitive/pushy (not just about food). He was skinny for his age, I was high normal. I look back at those times and feel sorry for what he must've gone through as a 10-15 year old, having to deal with a little brother like me.

My step sister ate like that when she went to visit her mother in the summers. She would put on 20 or more pounds, and then come back in time for school. Which meant that my mother (the wicked step-mother) had to take her shopping for school clothes. At that time (late 70s) they did not have "husky" or buttons. My mother had to buy old lady polyester stretch pants, which were NOT the fashion that my step sister wanted to wear.

My mother however, cooked decent meals, not a lot of carbs, meat but lots of vegetables. If we were hungry and it was summer we were to go out to the garden or climb a tree for a snack. (We had lots of cherries, grapes, raspberries, currents, plums and apples.) The garden always had something: peas, beans, cucumbers, tomatoes. A few weeks after my sister got home she usually lost enough weight that my mother could buy her a couple pairs of decent jeans or cords.

But, my sister always bragged about the Oreos, cupcakes and icecream she ate during the month at her mother's. I still don't think she gets it, based on what her daughter looks like.

In hindsight I suspect the encounter wasn't helped by the fact that when Aunt asked me (before going shopping, I think) what my favorite food was, I had replied, "lobster." Hey, she asked what I liked, not what I had tasted more than once in my life.

My dad did that once! He was like, "What do you like?" Me: "I love fresh oysters, I want to have them again someday." Him: "I actually meant I'm going shopping, what would you like." Me: "Oh! Ah... arctic char would be great!"

My mother used to get comments about ordering an entire entree for me when I was a little kid... she would matter-of-factly explain that if she didn't order he own lobster and caviar (or, you know, whatever it was) I would eat at least half of hers, and probably all the good parts, to boot.

I can't STAND it when I hear people ask if a restaurant has "kid food"... I mean, I know what they mean, but... wtf is kid food? I ate anything and everything when I was a kid! I'd have to say that hot dogs and chicken nuggets were definitely not a fave, never really took to burgers... and mac 'n' cheese was only good when you added tuna and peas (it's a midwest thing, I'm told by both of my parents who grew up in different midwestern states.)... and I think a good majority of the kids I grew up with were also expected to eat whatever the adults were eating...

I got flamed and called a troll on a low carb board once for telling someone that they're the parent and their kid does not NEED junk, if they want them to stop eating it, stop providing it. *sigh*

Originally Posted by Him

I lived through exactly the OP's situation as a 10yo kid.

My mother and I had traveled to her sister's (my aunt's) house. They lived half-way across the country from us so this wasn't an every day thing. Aunt had two kids and some sort of family reunion type day planned. She had gone out and done "special shopping" so there would be food for everyone.

I took a look at what was on the table... There were plates of cut vegetables, ham/roast beef and cheese sandwiches, fruit, hot dogs with ketchup, grocery store fried chicken drumsticks, twinkies, etc.... I started in on the cut vegetables and roast beef. I had some strawberries. I ate more vegetables. I went back for thirds on the vegetables. My aunt watched, aghast, as I ate. Finally she couldn't take it any more and told me that I shouldn't be eating that food. I can't remember exactly what I said in reply but she was more than a bit shocked and lit into my mother to control her son, force me to eat the age appropriate food (to her that was obviously the hotdogs and twinkies as far as I could understand).

My mother replied with something along the lines of, "I believe in letting kids eat what they want to eat."

It went down-hill from there. I remember this part, though, almost 30 years later: Aunt to my mother, sounding indignant, "I don't know what it's like in California, but here in Wisconsin vegetables are expensive!"

In hindsight I suspect the encounter wasn't helped by the fact that when Aunt asked me (before going shopping, I think) what my favorite food was, I had replied, "lobster." Hey, she asked what I liked, not what I had tasted more than once in my life.

The funny part was that I wasn't a skinny kid. My older brother (who didn't like vegetables nearly as much as I did) was a rail, but I was always on the upper end of the weight range. Not fat per se, but not light. In hindsight, I attribute most of my bad eating habbits to one aspect of my upbringing: We lived on a single income in Southern California (where the cost of living was and is high) and my mother had serious health issues of the "multiple surgeries, radiation therapy, etc, starting when I was 5" variety. In other words, we were broke most of the time and didn't have a huge amount of money to spend on food. My mother tried to deal with this by cooking exactly the right amount of food...but if she undershot (and that happened often) were like young birds in a nest at feeding time...the most agressive eats, the others starve. My brother was older by 5 or so years, a natural advantage in those circumstances. I learned that if I took a small serving and wanted more...well, chances are by that time the food would be gone. I learned to eat almost anything that was served and not to be picky. I learned to grab as much food as I could, when I could. Probably great lessons for Grok or whatever, but bad lessons for a kid in our decadent food-rich society.

These are the same parent's that are in the doctor's office very other week because their kids are always sick with something and then blame the practitioner for not making them better. It's unfortunate how we are so mislead in our society by corporate greed as they try to sell stuff labeled as food. Sometimes if I am in a dollar store I will look at the ingredients on one of those pre packaged "dinner" meals that come in a box just for shits and giggles!!! It amazes me people actually eat this stuff. I am a nurse and I hear time and time again from patients how they can't afford to eat healthy, but they can afford their cigarettes and I Phones!!